Disney/ Pixar’s Elemental is a quirky, visually inventive, animated romance that serves more as a parable of multiculturalism, race relations and acceptance than as a traditional adventure comedy. The film takes the ancient philosophical notion of the world being composed of four essential elements: earth, air, fire and water and turns them into four populations of people who the inhabit
Read moreI haven’t seen the first film in this series, 2018’s Into the Spiderverse but I was intrigued by the rapturous critical reception this animated Spiderman spin-off received. Despite movie goers being pounded like a Hulk fist by CGI superhero extravaganzas, Spiderverse apparently offered something fresh and exciting. For someone encountering this film world for the first time, the sequel, Spiderman:
Read moreFor someone like myself who is absolutely mystified by the appeal of computer games, it’s easy to overlook their cultural and economic impact. They are massively popular and increasingly infiltrating other media with adaptations like TV series The Last Of Us lauded by critics. Computer games are also big business with returns on new releases rivalling and often exceeding those
Read moreWhile it’s filled with vivid, inventive images and while it touches on important themes such as family conflict, same sex relationships and environmental preservation, the Disney animated fantasy, Strange World isn’t as engaging as it might have been. It seems as if the filmmakers weren’t sure if they wanted to create an old school sci fi adventure like Journey To
Read moreThere have been numerous film adaptations of Italian author Carlo Collodi’s 1883 Pinocchio story but the most famous is the 1940 Disney animated film. That movie is apparently a favourite of a number of renowned directors including Steven Spielberg who used its ‘wish upon a star’ theme over the closing credits of Close Encounters and essentially remade it as AI:
Read moreThe fun, inventive, hyper-energetic but sometimes (for adults) headache-inducing world of our little animated buddies, the Minions, continues with Minions: The Rise of Gru. This one takes us back to the mid-70 s and criminal genius Gru’s nascent years as an aspiring super villain. Here, the 11-year-old primary school student Gru (Steve Carrell) dreams of joining his heroes, a super
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